A/N: The song Hermione hears on the radio is If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy) by the Backstreet Boys. You guys should totally check it out, it's a Dramione song :D (This story is set in 2000 and the album with the song came out in 1997, so it is possible. Just so you know.)

What did she want from him? She wasn't sure. It was all so confusing, she didn't know what to think of it. She decided to try and keep herself calm. That way she could examine how she felt when she was with Draco, determine what it was she wanted from him and if it was possible for her to have that.

Chapter Nine

When Hermione woke up the next morning, she knew the day would be different from the previous one. There was something building up in the pit of her stomach, and that something was anxiety. It seemed to be waiting for a sign or cue that gave it permission to release itself.

Was she waiting for Ginny to get her questioning over and done with? Instead of starting to harass her as soon as they were both up, the girl had let her have her privacy. Soon the whole morning had passed without a word, which implied that an interrogation was most likely about to take place. She would easily be found when it was time, Hermione decided about an hour before lunch as she made her way to the living room.

She switched on the radio and walked around the room, cleaning up the dust with her wand and humming to herself. She thought about nothing in particular while she worked, which was quite surprising. Shouldn't she have been just as overwhelmed by her feelings as she had been the day before? Surely they couldn't have calmed down already.

They hadn't, she realised as a new tune started to play on the radio. Their direction had only taken a new turn. The anxiety got its first cue to start going wild as she listened.

It was a Muggle boy band called the Backstreet Boys and their song from a few years back. The song suggested that if a girl wanted to have quality fun of a...certain type, she should get in touch with a bad boy – 'the one who's got it going on'. Oh, she knew who that would be. She had to turn off the radio in the middle of the song to get rid of the rather interesting images that were suddenly popping in her mind. Reading would help her clear her thoughts, she thought hastily and grabbed the first book she laid her hands on.

The book was a detective story with a sassy and smart female protagonist. She was assigned with a task to find out if a handsome, well-known and wealthy young man had something to do with the murder of the mayor of the city she lived in. She had to disguise herself as a maid to be able to move around in his house without questions.

The detective girl was making great progress because the suspect took a liking to her as soon as he saw his new “maid”. After only a couple of days of work, the man called her to his personal study and... Hermione groaned in frustration. They were suddenly having heated sex on his table! They had only just met! She slammed the book shut with a bit more force than was necessary.

Realizing that a fictional character had more action than she had made her surprisingly frustrated. How come the girl in the book was getting lucky, when she wasn’t? And more importantly, why did she even care?

She knew where this was coming from, of course. Draco fucking Malfoy. Her head was a jumbled mess because of him. It was embarrassing, really – the smartest witch of her age, literally getting her knickers in a twist because of aboy! She had only just admitted to herself she had feelings for him, and now she was, what, lusting after him? This was seriously pathetic. Didn't she have any self-control left?

Obviously she wouldn’t do anything about it, Hermione thought to herself, shaking her head fiercely. Although she had to admit that it had been a while... No, she thought and frowned. It had actually been a long while. Closing her eyes, she felt quite powerless as the anxiety hit her at full force. She knew what it was now... She needed to get some.

Should she go for it? There was a good chance of getting what she wanted, since it seemed she wanted the same thing as Draco. All she needed to do was find him and... What? Tell him she wanted to jump him? She couldn't even think about it without blushing, how on earth would she voice her problem to him? “Hello Malfoy, would you like to find a nice broom cupboard and shag me senseless?” Uh...no.

Hermione's musings were abrubtly interrupted as the very object of her thoughts entered the living room.

“There you are, Granger! I was looking for you,” Draco told her cheerfully. He frowned as he took in her bewildered expression. “Hey... Are you alright?”

“I... I'm fine,” she gulped shakily. The moment he'd walked in, she had noticed his shirt was untucked and the topmost buttons undone. There wasn't much of his chest showing, but it was enough to have her imagination running wild.

“Really? You look a little... I don't know, hungry maybe,” he shrugged. ”Is there anything I can do for you?”

She was hungry alright, but not in the way he thought she was...

“Oh no,” she shook her head vigorously. ”I don't need anything, thank you very much. I need to go now.”

With that, she dashed out of the room, leaving a confused Draco in her wake.

Not even thinking of where she was going, Hermione hurried up the stairs and found herself in the bedroom. There was a familiar figure sitting at the foot of their bunk bed, and she knew she had to let some fumes out to feel better. At the moment she couldn't find a better person to talk to than her roommate.

“Oh Ginny,” she sighed in desperation, throwing herself on her bed. “I can't take it anymore. It's been over five months since the last time I got laid! I need release!”

“Whoa, calm down,” Ginny set down her magazine and turned to look at her friend. “Where's this coming from? You just woke up today and noticed you're horny all of a sudden?”

“I...well...I guess it's been building up for a few days now,” Hermione replied, suddenly feeling guilty. She knew it was visible on her face, too.

Ginny raised her brows in question. “For a few days now? Is there something going on that I don't know about?”

“Well, you know... Draco's been teasing me a lot lately.”

“Excuse me? You're feeling all worked up and horny because of Malfoy?”

“Shhh! Someone could hear you,” the brunette hissed.

“Oh Merlin,” Ginny grinned. “You have the hots for Malfoy. I knew it.”

“What? No! It's not like that, I don't even like him! As a matter of fact, I hate him, I wish he... he... I wish he went away, right now,” Hermione hastened to explain. She could tell from Ginny's giggling that she didn't sound too convincing.

“Yeah right,” Ginny chuckled. “Hey, why don't you go ask him if he could help you with your...little problem? I'm sure he'd want to make it better if he knew what you were going through because of him.”

“GINNY! ” The girl was having way too much fun.

“I'm just trying to help you out,” she laughed merrily. “If my advice wasn't good enough, I suggest you ask someone else.” She got up and started towards the door, talking to herself. “Oh this is just too good...”

“If you tell anyone, I'll kill you!”

“Sure you will, honey,” Ginny chirped and disappeared.

Hermione groaned, hitting her head against her pillow. It didn't really help to diminish her anguish, so she sat up and made to leave the room too. On her way to the door she passed the bathroom and suddenly stopped walking.

She considered her options for a moment, looked around to see if anyone was there and after cursing her weakness in a low voice, she entered the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, locked it and cast a Silencing Charm. Heaving a deep sigh, she lay down on the soft carpet and slid a hand under her skirt.

* * *

“Granger, are you feeling alright now? You seemed a little tense earlier,” Draco asked when the three of them were having lunch.

Hermione blushed and Ginny tried hard not to laugh. She'd come back to the bedroom to get her magazine just in time to see the other girl exit the bathroom, a guilty flush on her cheeks. It hadn't taken Ginny long to figure out what had happened, especially after she'd checked if there was someone else in the bathroom and found it empty.

“Yes, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks.” She kicked Ginny under the table. The girl disguised her yelp as a sudden fit of cough.

“Are you sure? If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know,” he insisted.

“You really need to stop pestering me about this,” Hermione told Ginny a while later when they were alone again, sitting on Hermione's bed.

“I might just do that if you stopped lying to me,” the redhead grinned. “I've been watching you enough to know what's going on. Just admit it... You like him.”

Hermione buried her head in her knees. She did like him, but it wasn't that easy to say the words. It would make everything seem so much more serious, and she wasn't ready for that. She wished she could go back to the time when she was able to enjoy Draco's company without the constant storm of wild butterflies in her stomach. Yet she knew she couldn't do that. There was only one direction she could take, and if she wanted to succeed, she would need help.

“I like him,” she mumbled against her knees.

“What was that? I didn't quite catch it,” Ginny strained her ears to hear the confession.

Hermione lifted her head, and after Ginny saw her eyes, she wouldn't have needed to say anything. She said it anyways.

“I like him.”

After a moment of unbelieving silence as the redhead tried to comprehend the feelings she saw in her friend's eyes, a grin spread on her face. Squealing with enthusiasm, Ginny scrambled closer to hug Hermione.

“I knew it! Oh gosh, you're going to be so happy with him,” she cried happily.

As glad as she was to have a confidant, it also felt weird. She'd been sharing little secrets and personal jokes with Draco for a while already, and it was odd to suddenly be keeping something from him. How overwhelming would it be to sit in the same room with both Ginny and Draco? Every time the blond gave her a comment with a hidden meaning, the redhead would give her the thumbs-up. It wouldn't take him long to figure out unless Ginny was able to remain inconspicuous.

The girl in question pulled away and frowned at Hermione.

“What do you mean? I don't even know what's going on between the two of you, but it's obvious that something's happening.”

“I suppose you could say that... But I'm not sure if there's anything on his side,” she shrugged.

“Oh come on! You should just go for it, don't be such a chicken,” Ginny encouraged.

All of a sudden a look of enlightenment brightened her face. It was soon replaced with a devilish grin, and Hermione immediately felt wary. Whatever it was Ginny had in her mind, it couldn't be good.

“As a matter of fact... You seem to need a friendly shove in the right direction. Hermione, I dare you to squeeze Draco Malfoy's butt.”

She gasped in horror. “Ginny! I will do no such thing!”

“Honey, it's a dare – aren't you supposed to be a Gryffindor? Where's your bravery now?”

“This has nothing to do with bravery! It's pure stupidity,” Hermione huffed.

“You may think whatever you like, but you've been given a dare and I expect you to give me a report of your progress in executing it. Preferably as soon as possible,” Ginny grinned. Before Hermione had time to protest, she had rushed out of the room, leaving her friend to sit on the bed, a horror-struck expression on her face.

* * *

Sitting on the sofawith Draco, Hermione knew she was in trouble. Not only was she looking at things from a different perspective after confessing she had feelings for the boy, but there was also that nagging voice in the back of her head that constantly reminded her of the dare she'd been given. It didn't help that the topmost buttons of the boy's shirt were still open, leaving a patch of perfect white skin peaking from underneath. Contemplating the inconvenient situation she was in, she had a feeling something major was about to take place.

And then it happened. She felt herself sinking deeper into the sofa as Draco shifted his weight and got up. He crossed the room right in front of her to rifle through the pieces of work in the bookcase.

She could have sworn she wasn't trying to do it. Honestly. She just couldn't help it! Somehow her gaze drifted to the delicious sight that was Draco's butt. It was nice and firm, and totally worth squeezing. Damn Ginny for pointing out she could do that. Except that she couldn't – it would be way too embarrassing. Amazing, sure, but embarrassing nonetheless. She could not believe how cruel life could get, and, in retaliation, she began banging her head against her knees.

That didn't help.

“Are you alright?”

Hearing Draco's worried voice made her groan. “No.”

“Well, what's wrong?”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

Draco frowned. “Haven't I told you not to bottle things up? Just spill it. It can't be that bad. How about I get you some water and you work it out while I'm in the kitchen?”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned towards the door. And what do you know – his butt was once again in Hermione's range of vision. The only thing in it, really. It was screaming to be touched. She groaned even louder and resumed banging her head against her knees.

“Not that again,” she moaned. Draco came back to her straight away to see if she was okay. “Sit down.”

“Sure, I'll sit down,” he answered, feeling very puzzled. “Look, you need to tell me what it is. You're freaking me out. Did I do something wrong?”

“No, I don't think you can help it,” she mumbled. “It's not your fault, really.”

“Alright... Well, is there anything I can do to help?”

“Well, I guess you could find yourself some robes and wear them,” she pondered weakly. “Big ones. You know – out of sight, out of mind.

Draco shook his head. “You're not making any sense.”

“I know,” Hermione replied, sighing once again. Life really was hard. “The thing is... You really need to hide your butt. I'm going to squeeze it if you don't.”

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was acting all crazy because of his behind? Could this really be happening?

“So let me get this straight – you want to pinch my butt? Is that it?” A grin was spreading across his face slowly but surely.

“Well, uh... Actually Ginny dared me to do it,” she explained quickly – but not quickly enough. Draco had already drawn his own conclusions.

“Oh... So Ginny dared you to do it. Sure.” He didn't believe a word of it.

“She did! I'm not making it up,” Hermione exclaimed. She trotted to the door and yelled at Ginny to come down and prove her right. A moment later the redhead appeared in the doorway, a questioning look on her face. “Ginny, isn't it true that you gave me a dare earlier today? Yes? And what was it?”

Ginny's eyes widened. She looked at Draco and then at Hermione again. Did she really want to announce the dare in front of him? From the intense glare she got, she assumed that was the case. ”I, uh, I dared you to squeeze Malfoy's butt.”

Hermione turned to Draco with a victorious look on her face. “There you have it! I didn't make it up.”

“Maybe not,” Draco replied, an even bigger grin on his face for some reason. “But you totally wanted to do it.”

A blush was creeping on Hermione's cheeks. She had thought she was already past that, but apparently she wasn't. How dare he accuse her of wanting to squeeze his butt! Sure, it was true, but he didn't need to know that.

“That is completely beside the point,” she said, trying to go for a dignified tone. ”Now if you'll excuse me, I have other, more important matters to take care of.”

She had barely turned in the direction of the door when Ginny spoke.

“Uh, Hermione? Does this mean you're not completing the dare?”

“I'd love to hear the answer to that, as well,” Draco smirked.

Hermione looked at them, disbelief written all over her face. “Is that seriously all you care about? What is wrong with you people?!”

Ginny shrugged, a sheepish grin on her face, while Draco only looked at her with great amusement dancing in his eyes. That decided it for Hermione more than anything else. Narrowing her eyes and huffing in annoyance, she reached her hand behind Draco's back and, without thinking it any further, boldly squeezed his perfect butt.

“There you have it! Is everyone happy now?” she queried exasperatedly.

“I'm happy if you are, love,” Draco winked at her. “And I'm pretty sure you are. I have a nice arse, if I do say so myself.”

“Ugh!”

Hermione stormed out of the room, her hands constricting in anger. Ginny quickly glanced at the extremely self-satisfied Draco and hurried after her friend. She caught the brunette in the stairs.

“How was it?” she inquired curiously.

“It was amazing,” Hermione sighed. “I hate you.”

“I'm sure you do, but you're also grateful to me for making you do what you just did,” Ginny pointed out.

“I probably am, but then again I'm not exactly thinking straight today, so we can't know for sure...” And she sighed once more.

* * *

While Hermione spent the next couple of hours avoiding Draco, the boy in question was feeling very pleased with himself. He'd thoroughly enjoyed the attention he'd gotten from Hermione because of that dare. He had always kept himself in good shape, and he didn't mind showing it off every now and then, either. If it helped him get Hermione's attention, he'd be sure to take advantage of his physical fitness. He wanted her to think about him even when they weren't in the same room. It would only be fair – she was all he thought about.

Needless to say, these kinds of schemes weren't something Draco normally had to use in order to get a girl's attention. They had always been drawn to him because of his better-than-average looks and wealthy family. That wasn't the case this time, though. His family would definitely not help him get into Hermione's good books, which meant he had to rely on his looks a lot more. He was good at showing himself in the right angles. Well, that and flirting, obviously.

He had tried to provoke Hermione with his flirting, and it had worked way better than he'd thought it would. It had been a nice surprise to have her respond to it. Her sense of humor was a lot like his in many ways.

Yet he didn't know what was really going on in that head of hers. He'd caught her staring at him the other night when he hadn't been wearing a shirt, but he'd missed her reaction to the carefully selected pose he'd had on the bed. He couldn't possibly have looked at her without having a reaction of his own.

Draco frowned. Had it been his imagination or had Hermione been acting strangely for the last couple of days? When she'd looked at him, her eyes had seemed...wider somehow. And now that he thought about it, she hadn't even looked at him that much. Not in the eye, at least. Did it have something to do with Ginny suspecting they were hiding things from her? That sort of made sense. The girl had been right on Hermione's heels after she'd completed the dare. His mouth twitched at the thought. What a convenient dare it had been...

When it was time for dinner, Draco was the first one at the table. Hermione couldn't keep away from him now, and the mere thought of seeing her was exhilarating. It had never been like that with anyone else. The thought was a bit frightening, but he also knew he could never go back to the life he'd been living before. The funny thing was, he didn't even want to. At the moment he was practically chained to the house he was in, but it was very clear that it was a healthier environment than Malfoy Manor. He was in better company, and, as long as he was with Hermione, he didn't care about the rest.

She walked in just then, the redhead tagging along. They sat down opposite him. Before he could say anything, Harry and Ron joined them, too. Hermione jumped at the opportunity to keep the attention away from herself.

“Where were you two at lunch?” she asked the boys.

The two shared a look. It was obvious they wouldn't tell the truth.

“We had some...stuff,” Weasley explained lamely.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Potter added.

Draco watched as her eyes narrowed. She didn't like not knowing everything that was happening around her, but apparently she decided to figure it out later, for she didn't comment.

They ate dinner mostly in silence. Draco observed Hermione every time he was sure no one was looking. She stubbornly kept her eyes on everything and anything but him. What was she thinking about? He had already finished eating when she slipped, and he raised his eyebrow in question. She quickly turned her head away, a hint of a blush tinging her cheeks pink.

It had to be about the dare – that was the last interaction she had with him. Was she thinking about squeezing his butt, what it had been like? The thought brought a wicked, crooked smile to his face. He knew Hermione would soon check his reaction, and he wasn't disappointed. She took one look at his teasing face and blushed furiously. She fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably and managed to grab Ginny's attention.

The redhead glanced at her friend and saw right away that something wasn't quite right about her. Her alert eyes quickly traveled from Hermione to Draco and back to Hermione. She wasn't an idiot, and she'd made the connection between her friend's uneasiness and his staring. Draco didn't really care. He knew who Hermione would be thinking about before she fell asleep.

Harry noticed that Ginny had stopped eating. Frowning, he followed her gaze to see what was going on. He registered the restlessness in his friend and the blonde that was staring at her, and dropped his cutlery on his table with a noisy clank.

“That's it. I've had enough of your weird behavior. There's obviously something going on that I don't know about – what is it?” Harry boomed, irritated.

“Oh, it's just my butt,” Draco smirked. “Granger can't resist it.”

“YES I CAN!”

Hermione glared at him angrily and he chuckled.

“Are you sure about that? It didn't seem to be the case earlier today...”

“Ew,” Ron shuddered. “I don't want to hear this.”

He got to his feet and started towards the door, but turned around to pick up his plate. He then resumed leaving the room.

She groaned and buried her head in her hands, but didn't protest. That didn't go unnoticed. Harry's emerald eyes widened to the point where they looked like they would pop out of their sockets. He slowly turned to look at Draco, who shrugged. He was irresistible, what could he do about it?

Hermione didn't really feel like eating anymore, but she finished her meal out of habit. She couldn't look at Draco. How much had he guessed? Clearly he knew she was physically attracted to him, but was that all? Did he have any idea of how much she yearned to be with him?

Ginny gave her a comforting squeeze in the hand. She barely managed a half-smile to thank the girl. All she wanted to do was leave the kitchen, crawl into a hole and never come out. She didn't exactly get to do that, but she was offered a way out nevertheless.

“Hermione, can I have a word with you?” Harry asked.

She looked at him with resigned eyes. “Sure.”

They put their empty plates away and Hermione followed her friend out of the room. He led her to the second floor and a sitting room she hadn't been to much. They sat down on a comfy sofa, and neither spoke for a while.

“So... You and Malfoy, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she admitted softly.

They sat in silence again, both lost in their thoughts. Hermione had been waiting for some shouting, and she was surprised to get none. Or she would have been, if she had been able to think about such trivial things. At the moment she wasn't capable of that.

“Has he been good to you?”

She started a bit at the sudden question. She looked at Harry, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. He was staring at the carpet intently.

“Yes,” she replied. She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “He's pretty great, you know.”

Harry nodded quietly. “I figured there had to be something...good about him. You wouldn't spend so much time with him if there wasn't.”

Hermione only smiled in response, and he finally looked at her. His expression was sad somehow.

“I always wished you and Ron would forget about your disagreements,” he confessed. “But I guess that's not going to happen. I've never seen you look so alive with anyone else, not even good ol' Ronnie.”

He shook his head to himself. She could see he wasn't done yet and waited patiently for him to go on.

“I want you to be happy, you know I do,” Harry assured sincerely. “It's just so hard to believe...Of all the people in the world, he's the one who makes you happy.”

“I know,” Hermione sighed with a half-smile. “I didn't exactly see that coming, either. But nothing's happened between us yet and I don't know if anything will, so...let's keep it quiet, alright?”

“Yeah, of course. Just know that I'll be there for you, whatever you decide.”

“Thank you, Harry,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him to hug him tightly. “You don't know how much that means to me.”

Did you think Hermione seemed OOC with her crazy libido? Obviously she has needs, too, but I figured she might be quite embarrassed about it until she couldn't take it anymore :D

In the next chapter you will learn more about how Draco feels about all of this. Any guesses? :) Also, if anyone is interested in discussing the story further, I have a new Meet The Author page on the forums. Feel free to stop by!